


Burst of Bright

by xxELF21xx



Series: The Fates Will Tell Your Tale (Kamen Rider) [8]
Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canonical Character Death, Dan and Parad make a tiny cameo, Gen, M/M, Minor Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Saki is Dead, Soulmates, Toku fandom is why I can't sleep at night, i should really write more toku
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-01 06:10:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14514216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxELF21xx/pseuds/xxELF21xx
Summary: Life is mundane, for Hiiro. He knows that his hair is black, his eyes a dark brown, and his favourite shade is a metallic blue. But he's never seen those colours before. He also knows that the colour he's most attracted to is a mix of hot pink and lime green, which causes father to cringe every time he brings it up.He wants to see the world in colour, he wants to find out why he's so attracted to pink and green.[Also called, "Falling Into Clashing Courses"]





	Burst of Bright

**Author's Note:**

> Oof, it's me; back at it again with my soulmate aus!!! I missed writing for toku, and since I don't have any ideas for Build, have some of this!

'Your hair is darker than your eyes. Black, but not too inky,' Mom comments casually, watching Hiiro stuff his face full of glass noodles, 'like your grandmother's.' He gulps, taking a deep breath as he stares at the kettle; 'it's just black,' he replies flatly. Mom sighs, folding her hands on the table. Hiiro knows the conversation is over, he's been through this a million times.

There's nothing remotely fascinating about colours. 

It just gets in the way of life and would occasionally make one's eye itch or irritated. Even in the medical field, colours weren't all that important.  _Shades_ were. No two shades were the same, making it much easier to distinguish between two different items. 'One day, when you meet your soulmate, you'll understand just how important colours are.' Mom says, playing with the ring on her finger. The gold ring looks like a shiny shade of light grey, a shade Hiiro doesn't like. It attracts too much attention. 

'Why are they important? Can't you tell me now?' He asks, impatient as always. It's a bad habit of his, always demanding but never giving. Mom laughs, a loud, boisterous sound, 'they're what represents you the most, the colour you would choose as your own would be your most defining feature.' She doesn't elaborate any more, which raises his hackles, but he keeps his head low; mulling over her cryptid words. 

Dark grey eyes flicker between the various shades of monotone around him,  _colours are useless._

 

-+-

 

It's close to dusk when Hiiro stumbles across a peculiar shade. A shiny, light shade. It catches his eye in the moment, striking out against the darker shades of the environment. He's on his way home from school, having stayed behind listening to his classmates rave over game characters for far too long. His parents got anxious if he didn't return home before seven, and school was a long way from home. He stops in his tracks, roughly slamming his arm into a tree trunk, eyes wide as he watches the keychain glint in the dying light. 

Hiiro finds his shade at age ten. Father says his brain is developing slightly faster than normal, which wasn't a bad thing, but it's worrying how he chose such an odd colour to call his. 'But I like it,' Hiiro pouts, showing his first signs of rebellion when he tightens his grip on the trinket, 'it's nice, calming. Not painful.' 

Father sighs, a small smile on his lips. Mom grins, delighted. 'We know, we just thought that you would've chosen something easier on the eyes.' 

The walls in his room are awash in his colour when he returns from school the next day; stretching from a tiny spot near his door, curling around his bedhead, and spilling around his bookshelves to fill up his ceiling.  He stares, entranced, observing how it shifts in the ever-changing light. 

Hiiro could get used to this. 

 

-+-

 

The next colours he finds intriguing is a light-yet-dark shade of grey and a bright shade of pale grey. He sees it on the train to University, staring out the windows in disinterest, eyes droopy from a long night of studying when they assault him from a large LED screen featuring an ad for some product. He squints, irritated, yet oddly happy, and averts his gaze. 

Saki greets him by the gates, laughing at the sour look on his face. When he asks her what her favourite colours were, she said, 'I like white the most, still.' He ponders, soulmates were supposed to like the same colours. But Hiiro likes Saki enough to overlook that fact, he enjoys her stable company and encouraging words. 

She was the gentle stars to his midnight sky. 

However, he knows it will not last. Their relationship feels tacky at best, more platonic than romantic. They're the University's most popular couple, yet they behave like siblings. 

'Your soulmate must be so confused,' he huffs, 'poor soul.' She shoves him, laughing, 'shut up!' They're three minutes late to their first lecture, yet they take their time getting there, talking about trivial things.

She does not meet her soulmate. Saki dies of a rare cell disease and he's left alone, staring at the hospital bed that she resided in, in a hospital he's going to inherit one day. He grieves, for himself and her soulmate. 

The world is cruel, killing her in a room full of the colours she loves.

He finds himself finding comfort in the strange colours a month after her passing, repainting a wall in his room and blending the three eccentric colours together. Hiiro misses Saki dearly, his heart aching with a phantom pain at the thought of losing his own soulmate.

 

-+-

 

Hiiro's colour preferences lean more toward the hot pink and neon lime green over time. Father looks like he could die of a cringe attack whenever he enters Hiiro's room. He promptly tells Hiiro that his soulmate must be a very enthusiastic and loud person for liking colours  _this_ brash. He takes offence to that. Mom fails to hide her amusement at how  _childish_ his room has become, teasing him every now and then. He makes it a point to buy a card case with the same colours, much to his mom's disappointment, just to show her he was serious.

He finds himself wondering how his soulmate feels, to love a metallic blue so much. 

He hopes they love metallic blue as much as he loves hot pink and neon lime green.

 

-+-

 

The hospital staff find it weird that the top surgeon in Japan has a habit of frequenting paediatrics because Hiiro doesn't look like the type of person to keep sick children company. Hiiro would admit, he doesn't like spending time with the children, he goes there because a certain video game character was insanely popular amongst the residents of the paediatrics wing. 

Hiiro would do anything to see those colours come alive in his world. All he sees are shades. Kujou from the coroners' office finds it ironic, 'isn't that better, though? What good are colours?' 

Kujou's salary wasn't just high for no reason, coroners usually lack the ability to see colours; either because they have no soulmate, or because their soulmate was already dead. Kujou's entered the coroners' office with colours in his eyes and red on his jacket, he stayed with monochrome in his life and grey on his shirt.

'Why are you here, then?' He bites back, 'coroners have no business with the paediatrics.' Kujou gave him a humourless laugh, 'kid's dead, why else?' 

They split ways with heavy thoughts on their minds. Hiiro walks right out, heading for the radiology department. If anything, annoying Hanaya is more entertaining then hearing the cries of grieving parents. Asuna passes by, inclining her head. 

'Sorry for the loss,' he murmurs. She bites her lip, eyes downcast. 'Sorry for the loss,' she echoes back, hastening her pace. 

The walk to the radiology department is weird, many of Hanaya's juniors scurrying past him with their tails between their legs. He blinks, an eyebrow raised. What got Hanaya annoyed this time? He's about to knock on the door when it swings open, a furious Hanaya in his field of vision. 

His acquaintance's face is flushed, lips curled back in a snarl. Hiiro has half a mind to make an insensitive joke when he spots the two other people in the office. Immediately, he pins the pieces together. Narrowing his eyes, he shifts in his position, an obvious  _are you alright?_ hangs in the air. Hanaya growls, gesturing for Hiiro to take a seat. 

'If this is a bad time, I can leave.' Hiiro tells the room, causing Hanaya to release a loud hiss and clamp a hand into his bicep. The hold screams pain and anger, causing an involuntary flinch. 'No, you stay here,' his senior growls, slamming the door shut. Hiiro hears a nurse squeak in shock outside. 

Hiiro barely takes a look at the two seated in front of him to know why they were here. There was no reason for Dan Kuroto of Genm Corp and his lover, Parad, to be here this early in the morning in the hospital. 'I suppose congratulations are in order, Taiga,' he smiles, seeing a look of irritation cross Dan's face. Parad remains unperturbed, eyes flitting from Hiiro to Hanaya in mirth as if watching a thrilling game. 

Hanaya catches up quickly, a saccharine sweet smile on his lips, there's the tell-tale tick of his cheeks that inform him exactly how fed up the doctor is, so Hiiro wastes no time in handing the other man the cup of coffee he brought up from the canteen. 'I'm going to assume that Dan's your soulmate?' Hanaya grinds his teeth, 'is it true that purple and black are your favourite colours?' 

Hiiro's amusement is heightened when Hanaya turns a shade darker. Parad giggles, hiding it in the sleeves of Dan's jacket. 'Fuck off,' Hanaya threatens, snatching the cup out of his hands and gulping it all down in one-shot. 

Hiiro doesn't want to know how this weird triangle works, but he stayed for the fun of it. 'There're things we need to discuss, you're on the clock,' Hanaya shoots a dark glare at the intruders on the sofa while Hiiro makes himself comfortable in his personalised chair in front of Hanaya's desk. 

They resume work, ignoring the two guests until Dan finally breaks and demands attention.

 

-+-

 

Three weeks after that, an intern is transferred into the paediatrics ward; and suddenly, hot pink and neon lime green seems to scream from the place. Asuna laughs when Hiiro doesn't appear in the ward for several days, Kujou goes back to sulking in the coroners' office for a good two weeks before coming out and giving him suggestive looks whenever they cross paths, Hanaya smirks cruelly at him and takes the chance to bother him every other day with a cup of coffee in one hand and a congratulatory card in the other. 

The people Hiiro consider as "friends" are about as sadistic as demons.

'You know, I bet that person loves Brave very much,' Kujou winks, causing Hiiro to choke on his lunch. Hanaya straight out  _cackles,_ much to his irritation. 

'All of you can rot in hell,' he mutters darkly, stabbing his chopsticks viciously into his bowl of rice. Just as he's about to make another comment on how his friends are terrible human beings, a voice shouts for Asuna. 

'Asuna-san!' It's a relatively new voice, still childish and naive. Asuna brightens up even further, frantically waving at the other person. The rest of them roll their eyes and continue eating, not wanting to get in the way of Asuna and her friend. 'Being head nurse sure is fun,' Hanaya snides as he sips his soup. Kujou and Hiiro raise their cups in agreement, taking a large swig of tea.

'Emu-san! Come join us!' Asuna's preppy voice, almost irritating and shrill, becomes sweeter than honey.  _Emu?_ The name rings several bells in Hiiro's head, but he can't recall where in the world he's heard of it. The other two at the table perks up, an evil grin forming on their faces. 

Hanaya pulls a chair out for the newcomer, 'hey, newbie, take a seat.' Hiiro ignores them. Emu stutters something about intruding them and being rude, but Kujou just coaxes him into sitting. 'Relax! We won't bite! Besides, you'll see us  _all_ the time if you're friends with Poppy!' 

'Poppy?' 

'It's a nickname,' Asuna rushes to answer, glaring daggers at the coroner. He just shrugs in return. 

After another round of stammering, Emu finally sits down. Hiiro takes a glance at him, noticing how light the shades of his outfit was.  _Great, another loud one._  

'You probably don't know them, since you're new and all,' Asuna grins, nudging Hanaya into talking. 'Hanaya Taiga, radiology.' He flicks the white strands of his hair away, eyes shining with curiosity. 'I'm Kujou Kiriya, from the coroners' office. Nice to meet you, greenie.' 

Emu laughs, startles, 'coroner?' Kujou smirks, giving him a two-finger salute, 'you won't ever see me for any official business, I hope.' Asuna whacks him over the head, much to the newbie's shock. 

'Kagami Hiiro, surgeon,' he introduces, deciding to be polite and look the other in the eye. 

Instantly, colours flood his vision. 

 _'Oh,'_ Emu gasps. Hiiro blinks, adjusting to how  _bright_ the world became. The boy in front of him has the weirdest pins on his coat, but all of them were either in metallic blue or hot pink and neon lime green. 

'I-I'm Houjou E-Emu, paed-diat-trics i-in-tern.' Rosy pink lips stutter out, a light dusting on his cheeks. 

'Oh,' Hiiro whispers, taking in how nice the three colours blended together.

They clearly belonged together.

**Author's Note:**

> Is this ship still alive?


End file.
